Debate continues over where the balance should lie between irrigation and river health following the Expert Connectivity Panel's recommendations to preserve the Barwon Darling River System.

The panel report, released in July, calls for the NSW Government to introduce flow targets at the end of river systems and to restrict flood plain harvesting.

The report says lawmakers should not wait for 'perfect information' before taking measures to protect the river system, an idea also known as the 'precautionary principle'.

Irrigators say the principle would take water unnecessarily from their activities, although cattle producer Garry Hall, also chair of the Macquarie Marshes Landholders Association, said he supports the principle.

"There will be some restructuring taking place. I don't expect one megalitre will be removed from an irrigator's entitlement without due compensation," Mr Hall said.

"We all accept that the water market is in place. People borrow money on the strength of their assets, that being land and water nowadays, so there's no suggestion whatsoever that rule changes would be impacting on landholders' equity.

"It's all about providing those flows in the river to improve connectivity and give much needed baseflows."

Barwon-Darling Water spokesperson Ian Cole. PHOTO: supplied

The Macquarie Marshes grazier was in Sydney on 15 August to push NSW MPs to adopt the panel's recommendation in full .

He spoke alongside other representatives of the Nature Conservation Council to government and crossbench MPs.

Ian Cole, a spokesperson for Barwon-Darling Water representing irrigators along the Barwon Darling, said the report was "unclear" on what the environmental benefits would be if the NSW government accepts new water rules.

"Most people acknowledge that things went too far back in the 1990s, but there has been a swing back the other way where a lot of water has been brought back for the environment," he said.

"We all know we've got to have an irrigation industry. Without intensive agriculture, which includes irrigation, we can't feed our population.

"We know we've got to take some water out of rivers and lakes, and from underground, to have theses industries. The question is how much do we take out of any particular river or water source."

The report was chaired by Amy Dula from the Natural Resources Commission, after being set up in August 2023 by the NSW government.